Last weekend at Southeast Christian Church, Dave Stone continued the sermon sermon series entitled, “Hometown Christmas” with the second sermon of the series, “Christmas in the Country” based on Matthew 2.
This sermon series by focuses on the significant places surrounding the place of the first Christmas. The second sermon of the series focuses on Nazareth. The city of Nazareth was quite smaller than other towns. Nazareth was always considered ‘less than.’ It is even quoted from the Bible, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Nazareth was not even mentioned in the Old Testament.
Mary’s and Joseph’s obedience to God during this time is significant. At that time there were 3 steps to a Jewish marriage: engagement or arrangement to be wed, betrothal or the approval which was binding, and the marriage itself. The lessons of obedience that we should observe from their obedience to God.
- Believe the promise of the impossible. If God wants a virgin to conceive and have a child, it will happen.
- Recognize the price tag of obedience — reputation, stress, and even your own agenda.
- Allow the Lord to use you — How can we be servants?
This past weekend at Southeast Christian Church, Dave Stone began a new sermon sermon series entitled, “Hometown Christmas” with the first sermon of the series, “Christmas in the City” based on Matthew 2.
Dave began this sermon series by focusing on the significant places surrounding the place of the first Christmas. Today we will begin with Jerusalem. The city of Jerusalem has a population of about 750,000 which is just a little bit smaller than Louisville, Ky. Jerusalem was the city that Jesus loved. Jerusalem is a very unique city. It is pack with incredible history and political power struggles. Be amazed at the number of political figures that were there when Dave and his wife visited just recently. Jerusalem is a place of significance.
Learn about how King David loved the city and how he chose the place to build the temple. Today we will learn about the promise of a New King which infuriated an old king. Learn about the types of people present during that first Christmas.
- There were many who were threatened by Jesus. King Herod and others in power feel threatened and feared loss of power. King Herod was an example of power gone bad. Learn how even a human plot cannot stop a divine plan. Do you allow yourselves to be threatened by the one who wants to be King of your life?
- Some were complacent about Jesus. Scholars and religious leaders did not even attempt make the trip to check things out. They did not understand that Jesus wanted to have a relationship with them.
- A few people embraced Jesus. Simeon, a godly man who faithfully served in the temple, was on the lookout for the King .
These three ways of reacting to Jesus are still prevalent today. Jesus means the one who saves. Have you turned your life over to Christ? Are you allowing Christ to be the ruler of your life? Are you embracing Him as your Lord and Savior?
This past weekend at Southeast Christian Church, Dave Stone continued the sermon sermon series entitled, “The Pretenders” with the fourth sermon of the series, “The Respectable Fraud” based on Matthew 23.
Imposter, deceiver, cheater, pretender, actor … “The Respectable Fraud” is a person who is highly respected but he has everyone deceived. On the outside “The Respectable Fraud” appears to do and say the right things but on the inside he is a different person. His life is not the way that it appears.
As a Christian we must be authentic — you see what you get. Christian authenticity is not about being yourself but rather dying to yourself. Take an introspective look into your life and see where you stand. Are you authentic or are you the pretender?
This past weekend at Southeast Christian Church, Kyle Idleman continued the sermon sermon series entitled, “The Pretenders” with the third sermon of the series, “Religious Bully” based on Matthew 23.
Kyle begins with a quote from Ghandi, “I like your Christ but I don’t like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.” When I think about this statement, it makes me sad — sad that because we don’t always say and do the things that Jesus would do. Sometimes as Christians we get caught up in the legalism rather than loving the person. We care more about pleasing God by obeying all the rules.We become a religious bully. Jesus dealt with religious bullies by confronting them and setting them straight.
Religious bullies make it hard for people to come to God. There are too many rules to follow and too much to do. Religious bullies lead people down the wrong path. Religious leaders make rules more important than relationships. The leaders often miss what matters most. Listen Kyle’s sermon now as he talks about religious bullies.
This past weekend at Southeast Christian Church, Kyle Idleman continued the sermon sermon series entitled, “The Pretenders” with the second sermon of the series, “The Self-Righteous Superstar” based on Matthew 23.
Matthew 23: 5 Everything they do is for men to see…
Kyle goes on to explain that the sin of self-righteousness generally displays symptoms that you cannot see in yourself. The self-righteous seek to impress people by doing the right thing rather than doing it for God.We must genuinely live your life for God. God does not look at the outward appearance as men do, but rather He looks at the heart. In order to have a relationship with Christ, we must be authentic in our daily lives.
What is the best remedy for being self-righteous? According to Kyle, service is the best remedy — service without being identified.
Superstars are self conscious but they are not self aware.
Superstars love to compare themselves to others.
Superstars love to boast about their accomplishments.
The question that we must each ask ourselves is… Is your motivation to impress people or to glorify God?
This past weekend at Southeast Christian Church, Kyle Idleman began a new sermon sermon series entitled, “The Pretenders” with the first sermon of the series, “The Professional Con Artist” based on Matthew 23.
Kyle begins the sermon by telling of a college student who interviews him. The last question the student asks is this, “Do you ever have a hard time practicing what you preach?”
According to Wikipedia, hypocrisy is the act of pretending. Do you ever pretend? Think about it for a minute. Do you ever cover up something within your life because you do not want others to know? You live as if everything is fine, your marriage and your family are great or so it appears on the outside. Are you covering up something in your life that you need to confess?
According to Kyle there are two kinds of pretenders when it comes to being a Christian. First there are pretenders who see their faith as something they were born into — going to church, baptized as a baby but never made their own decision for Christ, etc. Being a Christian is something that we each must choose for ourselves. There are also pretenders who see their faith as intellectual knowledge and behavioral compliance. They say and do the right thing but it is not a reflection of who they really are. Their hearts are far from God.
Today Southeast Christian Church, Dave Stone, presented the final part of the 6-part series as he continued the sermon series Faith In Training from the book of James with “Never Quit.” This sermon has a unique beginning as Wesley Korir, a world class marathon runner, challenges Dave Stone and Kyle Idleman to a 2-mile race. This is a race that even Bob Russell would approve.
James 5:11a As you know, we consider blessed those who have persevered.
In Dave’s sermon, he discusses what we should do instead of quitting. Don’t let quitting be an option. Quitting often keeps us from success which is just around the corner. Some of his suggestions include:
- Lighten your load. Establish your priorities, think less instead of more.
- Focus on the finish line or the final goal. Be patient; Be positive; Be persevering; Be honest.
- Pray for strength.
- Help others cross the finish line.
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Today Southeast Christian Church, Dave Stone, presented part 5 of a 6-part series as he continued the sermon series Faith In Training from the book of James with “Crunch Time.”
James 4:6 But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
In Dave’s sermon, he discusses three personal confessions of a prideful person. The first confession involves loving the things of the world more than we should — possessions, pleasure, and power. The second confession is our eagerness in judging others. The proud are quick to judge others. The Bible commands us when we are to judge others. The final confession involves bragging about our future plans.
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Today Southeast Christian Church, Dave Stone, presented part 4 of a 6-part series as he continued the sermon series Faith In Training from the book of James with “Muscle Control.”
Psalm 19:14 May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.
Although at time our words can hurt, on the other hand our words can do a lot of good — we encourage… we teach… we worship. Our words are a reflection of what is going on inside each of us. Therefore, we must control our tongue which controls the words that we speak. Do you speak encouraging, uplifting words? Are your words godly and truthful?
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Today Southeast Christian Church, Kyle Idleman, continued the sermon series Faith In Training in the book of James with “Break A Sweat.”
Ephesians 2:8-10 “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith — and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God — not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Often we do not put our faith into practice. Faith without deeds or not accompanied by action is dead. Faith is more than what we say or how we feel. It is our belief and action that demonstrates our evidence of faith.
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What is the evidence of your faith?
